Why Is It
by Konsui's Little Brother
Summary: A series of Kiba based one-shots all with the question 'Why is it' as the prompt. The one-shots will be from different times and places in the series. Anime and Manga.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: The first in a series of Kiba based one-shots all with the question 'Why is it?' as the prompt. There will be some from every genre, though drama and humor are my favorites to write, and many will have pairings.

This first one is a little...Not how I usually right. Something is off about it and I'm not sure what. If you have an idea on what the problem is, please let me know.

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"Why is it that happy endings aren't for people like us?" His voice was dull, an emotionless monotone that one would expect to come from Shino, not Kiba. Who in fact had been the one to speak.

The dog-nin was sitting under a tree on the out-skirts of Konahagakure, his legs sprawled out in front of him, a stark contrast to the positions of his companions. Akamaru, spralwed in an ungraceful doggy heap at his feet, and Hana, leaning against the tree behind him.

There wasn't an answer, from either dog or girl, so he continued in that same un-Kiba voice. "I mean, we're the ones that kept the village safe all those years, not Team Seven. Or any of those other teams. Us. And yet we're the ones that get stuck with the burnt-end of the stick."

"They're considered heroes, all three of them, when we did all of the work. They wouldn't be alive without us and yet...We don't get squat." Slowly Kiba pulled his legs up to his chest, leaning forewards so that he could rest his chin on his kneees. "That idiot...He wouldn't be half as strong if he didn't have the Fox in him, which last time I checked he used to be hated for, and now everyone loves him."

"And that Sasuke. It's like it doesn't matter that he tried to kill everyone, he's just as welcome in the village now as he was as a kid. But if it was you or me or Shino, we'd be killed the moment we set foot in the village." There was a small growl from Akamaru as the dog moved slightly, placing his head on his paws and staring at his master in a mournful way.

"Sakura...She didn't do anything and the village practically worships her. She's the weakest shinobii I'ver ever seen but because she's a part of their team she's a heroe too." Kiba let out a snort and closed his eyes.

"But the ones that actually stayed here, fought for their lives while those three were out having fun and training away from the village, what about them? What about Lee? He's got to take an elixer before and after every fight just so he can move and he'll never be able to train his own team of genin or become an ANBU."

"And Ino. She used to be one of the prettiest girls in the village and now look at her. She can't even leave her house with out being stared at. She got those scars protecting the village, fighting a rouge Oto-nin, while Team Seven was out training. She'd been on leave too but is she being praised? No."

" Tenten's dead. Shikamaru's blind in one eye. Kurenai's kid was killed while she was out defending the village from an attack. And look at us." Kiba opened his eyes slightely but there was no light in them. No joy, or happiness, there wasn't even any saddness. They were just blank, the eyes of a man that had lost too much to care any more.

"Ma's dead. You're the clan's new Alpha." His voice broke slightley, some how still being emotionless sounding, but he pressed on. "Hinata...Hinata's with Naruto. She's happy now so I should be too but...I loved her." Akamaru stood up and slowly made his way over to Kiba, his head down and his tail dragging in the ground behind him.

"And look at Shino...Look at what being a heroe got him!" Kiba slammed his fist down on the tree he was leaning against, the wood splintering beneath his fist. "Look at what saving everyone did! And what did he get? His name on some stone outside of the village! The Aburame Clan a little more respect! Nothing that does him any good!" Kiba jerked from his seat on the ground, swinging around and punching the tree again. The wood rattled beneath his fist, large cracks running up the side of it.

"And what about us? What about everyone that he left behind? That plaque's not doing us any good! It's not doing anything for his father, or the rest of his clan! Or..." Kiba's voice trailed off slightly, a whimper replacing the rest of his sentence. "Or...Me...It's not doing anything for me. He's gone." And then the anger was gone, all of the rage and the sadness that meant he was grieving and would eventually get better dissapeared.

Kiba let his arm fall to his side, blood dripping from his knuckles where the wood had cut into his skin, and his face went blank again. "I guess real heroes don't get happy endings."

Hana moved away from the tree, Akamaru close at her heels, and put a hand on her younger brothers shoulder. "Kiba, let's go home now." There was no response from the younger Inuzuka, and that bothered her more than a protest would have, as she lead him away from the cause of his pain.

A smoothed stone in the middle of the forest, with small words carved into the surface of it.

_'Shino Aburame, Jonin'_

Those three words had done more damage then the man that payed for the grave would ever know. Naruto had thought that putting the grave up would help, that an extra marker would help his family and his team-mates grieve.

He didn't know that it would be what finally broke one of his best shinobii, nor did he know that it would be what drove his best Jonin into becoming ANBU. But it was. It was the the last thing that Kiba could take before he broke, the last injustice towards the 'real heroes' he would stand, and the last time he would watch someone he was close to die.

It was the day that Konoha lost their best warrior and gained their best weapon. The day that Team Ten lost their best member and Hinata gained her first Genin team. The day that Hana Inuzuka lost her brother and gained a new found hatred for 'Konoha's Heroes'. And the day that Kiba Inuzuka decided that he would never let anything close to him again.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Okay, I know it's been a while but here is one to the prompt 'Why is it that letters from the Hokage are never good?'

Owl is Neji, Scorpion is Shino, Hare is Ino, Hound is Kiba, and the current Hokage is Naruto.

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"Why is it...Why is it that letters from the Hokage are never good?" The words echoed around the near empty mail room, filled only by the scuffling of four ANBU that had recently returned from a three month long mission. The ANBU froze, heads turning to the once jovial shinobii, that had just spoken.

It was almost disturbing, how the activities before and during ANBU could change a person, and while it hadn't changed them all it had defiantly changed Hound. As a genin, Hound had been boisterous and full of pranks and jokes. He had never failed to cheer his team-mates, or his Jounin Sensei, up. Yet now, years later, he was cut off from all that weren't in ANBU with him, and even those he only spoke to when necessary. Only a few ties had not been severed. So it was a surprise when his three team-mates looked up to see him holding a stack of letters, mask still on, eyes locked intently on the crisp white papers in his hands.

"What do you mean Hound?" Scorpion was one of the few shinobii that Hound had stayed in touch with. As a former team-mate the two were very close, they went out to eat once a week as long as neither of them were on a mission, so it made since that he had been the only one not to go back to his mail. It was all junk any way. A few letters announcing appointments of his that had to be rescheduled, a note from Genma telling him that the last client was 'satisfied', and a few that he hadn't gotten too but couldn't be too important. They could wait for a few minutes.

"I mean that it's funny that we grew up with him but the only time that he sends us letters is when he's giving us bad news." Hound's voice was dry as he spoke, a tinge of sorrow buried under a layer of indifference. "Yukimaru must've been real sad when it happened, huh Akamaru." By his leg Akamaru, the large white and brown nin-ken that was his almost constant companion, let out a low whimper. His head lowered towards the ground, tail tucked, and a sad doggy frown in place.

That got his other team-mates attention from their letters. Yukimaru was the nin-ken owned by Hana, Hound's elder sister, and the current leader of the Inuzuka Clan. Their mother -Tsume the Feral Warrior- had passed almost three years ago, slain by a stray Oto-nin, and she had passed both her position as Clan Head and her nin-ken onto Hana who was a well liked Jounin.

Hare frowned from behind her mask, the worry hidden well, she had gotten to be really close to Hana in the last few years and any letter about her from the Hokage could only be bad news. "Why? What happened?"

Hound's eyes never left the letter as he spoke. "_Hound. I am sorry to inform you that your elder sister and the Head of your Clan recently passed away during a mission. As you were on a mission and there were no other prominent members of your clan available, she has been buried in the Shinobii Grounds. I am sorry for your loss. -Rokudaime_"

Glancing up from the paper, hands shaking ever so slightly, he let out a grim laugh. "He went ahead and buried her while I was gone, off of Inuzuka ground, and all he sends me is a letter informing me? What right does he have?"

Scorpion could feel the unease and tension that suddenly filled the room, thick enough that he could cut it with a kunai if he wanted too, and it bothered him. His kekaichi gave an almost silent buzz of disapproval, the tension in the air making them just as un-easy as their host. "Hound…He's the Hokage. He has the right to-"

"To do whatever he wants?" A pointed glance was sent in Owl's direction, the bird-masked ANBU doing his best to keep reading his mail, as he spoke next. "I thought that they couldn't mess with inner clan workings? Last time I checked, burials counted as inner clan workings." Hound pulled his upper lip back in an unseen snarl as he crumpled the letter and shoved it in one of the many pockets that adorned his ANBU uniform. He grabbed the other letters from his locker, all of them unread and most of them very official looking, before turning towards the door.

"Hound. Calm down. Where are you going?" At this point Scorpion wasn't really sure whether he was grateful that the other ANBU had kept quiet, or annoyed that they were letting him deal with this on his own. Most likely the latter. He had never liked dealing with Hound when he was annoyed.

Hound paused for a moment, hand hovering on the brass door-knob for a moment longer than it should have, before he finished opening the door. "I have to get back to my pack. I'm Alpha now and there are things I have to organize." Even with the indifference that still coated his voice, it was hard to miss the hurt and anger that coated each word.

Scorpion had completely forgotten that Hound was the next in line for Head of the Inuzuka's, something that the dog-nin had confessed he never wanted to be, and it would only make sense that there was resentment towards the Hokage for what he did. Still, Scorpion felt his eyes move from the now empty door-way and over to the man wearing the bird-mask, Hound should know to be more careful about who he spoke that freely around.

Scorpion turned back to his mail, the tension in the room disappearing and with it the buzzing of his kekaichi. Later he would go after Hound and make sure that he was alright but for now…For now he would let the dog-nin grieve in his own way, whatever that might be. After all, when you received a letter from the Hokage, no news was the best news that you could get.


End file.
